Art Journaling Basics – Page Starter

Posted on July 15, 2013 by Kristie Sloan

In this stop along our way, we are going to look at using an image to add to our page for a jumping off point. Our mixed media art friend, Joanna Grant, has provided some vintage images for us to use. We thought these bathing beauties would be great to use for a variety of themes – reflection, women, beach….! Print one or more to use on a page. You may also like to use one of the quotes listed below the photos, or feel free to do whatever you’d like to do!

Simply double click on an image to get the full size. Next, right click on the image to download and print it off to use on your page.

“Well-behaved women seldom make history.”
― Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History

“There are no good girls gone wrong – just bad girls found out.”
― Mae West

“A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous.”
― Coco Chanel

“A woman has to live her life, or live to repent not having lived it.”
― D.H. Lawrence, Lady Chatterley’s Lover

“Women who seek to be equal with men lack ambition”
― Timothy Leary

Joanna has several CD’s of vintage images in her Etsy store, and often offers seasonal images for free on her blog, or her Facebook page:

www.joannabanana.etsy.com
www.facebook.com/JoannaGrantArt
www.joannabananadesignoriginals.blogspot.com

Be sure to share you work with us by linking to the comments, or by coming over to the Facebook Group!

Cheers to YOUR creativity! — Kristie

Art Journaling Basics – 5 Ways to Create Backgrounds

Posted on July 11, 2013 by Kristie Sloan

So far, in our Artful Adventure into Art Journaling Basics, we have covered:

Now, let the fun begin!

Let’s look at some ways to get started on a page. Here are three methods of creating your page.

Create a background and then decide what you’ll put on the page as you move forward.
Have something already selected that you want to make sure your background will work with.
Work on part of your page and as it evolves, fill in the background.

There, now that doesn’t sound so hard, does it?

Today, we are going to look at some ways to work with the first method – starting the background first. With all the products available, look around at what you already have. Grab something and let’s go! You can use watercolors (cheap ones will do!), acrylic paint, or patterned paper.

Don’t worry if you don’t know what the page will look like. At this point, we may not have any idea, and that’s fine. Stop looking at the blank page and just get started!

We would love to see your backgrounds! Share them by linking in the comments, or come join us on the Facebook Group!

Wednesday Wonder – True Scrap Kids

Posted on July 10, 2013 by Kristie Sloan

truescrapkids How about spending a day treating your kids, and yourself, to paper crafting goodness! True Scrap Kids is a virtual, online event coming to you July 27th. Everything will be recorded so you can play it again, or if you’ve already made plans for that day you can watch everything later!

True Scrap events bring fun and interesting teachers and activities right into your own space. There is no need to travel or leave home to participate.

I have loved every minute of the True Scrap events I’ve participated in. There are crafty kids in my life and it is going to be a blast sharing crafting time that is especially geared to kids this time!

Just click the button below to get all the info you need!

Hurry now to get an early bird discount!

More Info Please!

Art Journaling Basics – Adhesives

Posted on July 9, 2013 by Kristie Sloan

Today’s stop on our Art Journaling Journey will be a stop to visit our good friends – adhesives. You may not need adhesives on every page you create, but when you need something, you’ll want to know just what to use!

You may only need to stick something down on your page with a double-sided tape, or tape runner. If you are a scrapbooker, or paper crafter, you probably have plenty of this type product. Glue sticks are also a quick way to adhere paper to your page. Double-sided tapes and glue sticks are best used on paper to paper surfaces. If you need extra strength, something like Sticky Strip will provide an even greater bond.

Glue dots are great for adhering small embellishments, and will give you a little more bonding strength.

If you want to add a bit of dimension, foam adhesive is an option. It is sticky on both sides, and actually has a nice amount of stickiness!

Craft glues can be used when you need something with a little more strength. They usually are created to become a little more tacky to give some grab to help hold your items together. In my opinion, a glue that gives you just a moment to get your items exactly into place before it really begins to bond, is best!

Collage techniques are a great option for art journaling. What works best for that type of work? There are several types of products that are great for this technique. ModPodge and DecouPage are similarly priced. ModPodge leaves a bit of a film and remains a bit tacky in humid areas. Matte Mediums are probably a bit more costly and come in a liquid version, something a bit more creamy, and products that are more of a gel consistency. Remember, we are using art journaling to try different products and techniques. You may fall in love with a product that someone else doesn’t particularly care for. Not only is there no right or wrong way to art journal, there are also no right or wrong products to use!

We’ll soon be trying some collage techniques, so try to grab something soon.

Enjoy the journey!

Art Journaling Basics – Gesso vs. White Paint

Posted on July 5, 2013 by Kristie Sloan

Liquid gesso is a good choice for art journals.

As we continue our Art Journaling Adventure, we’ll step back a minute and look at gesso, before we move ahead into discussing some adhesives. While we used gesso in turning a book into an art journal, you may be wondering why we didn’t just use white acrylic paint, instead of the gesso. So, we’ll talk about that now.

Although white acrylic paint and white gesso may look a lot alike, they are different. Gesso is made to actually seal a surface and still provide a very slightly textured surface, also known as “tooth.” This gives paint something to grab onto. That means that you can use gesso on all kinds of surfaces and be able to paint on it. Without the gesso, many surfaces would absorb too much of what you are using, such as paints, ink mists, and adhesives. Gesso also has more of an adhesive property than acrylic paint. You can use it and then work an artful creation on many surfaces which your paint or other mediums would not normally stay on very well!

Different brands of gesso have varying degrees of a textured surface when they are dry. In our art journals, we can just use one that does not really have a lot of noticeable texture. A liquid gesso is easy to use and will work well in an art journal.

As we move forward, you’ll also find that mixing a little white gesso into a paint will change a paint color in a different way than white paint will change it.

So, don’t be afraid to grab some gesso at some point, even if you have decided to purchase your art journal instead of using our recycled book idea! I promise that as we move through different Artful Adventures, you will have a use for it.

See you on our next stop on the Art Journaling Adventure,